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Prescription Drug Ads Influence Patients, Poll Finds

Doctors fear ads encourage self-diagnosing, increase demand for expensive new drugs

September 28, 2007

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All those TV ads promoting prescription drugs seem to be having an effect.

A poll of Pennsylvania adults, taken 10 years after the first direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical television advertisement ran, suggests that nearly half of the participants have asked their doctor about a specific prescription drug or medical procedure they saw advertised.

According to The Patient Poll, conducted by the Pennsylvania Medical Society’s Institute for Good Medicine, 45 percent of Pennsylvania adults participating in the summer 2007 poll indicated that they have talked to their doctor about a specific drug and/or procedure that they saw advertised on television or in a magazine.

Critics of the ads say they lead to more prescriptions being written, often when it's not in the best interest of the patient. But there’s also a flip side: instead of getting upset about this situation, one physician says it’s better for his colleagues to be prepared for questions.

The American Medical Association (AMA) last year called for a moratorium on ads for new prescription drugs until new guidelines could be developed..

“Most physicians are divided about whether or not pharmaceutical advertisements directed towards patients are good,” said Dr. Peter Lund, founder of the Pennsylvania Medical Society’s Institute for Good Medicine.

“Some say it’s good to have patients informed, while others say it’s bad because of induced demand and incorrect self-diagnosing. Our advice to Pennsylvania physicians is to be alert to what’s being advertised and be prepared to answer questions since there’s a good chance they’ll be asked.”

A study published in the August 16, 2007, edition of The New England Journal of Medicine tracks a rise in total spending on pharmaceutical promotion from $11.4 billion in 1996 to $29.9 billion in 2005. Real spending on direct-to-consumer advertising increased by 330 percent during those years.

“There’s clear evidence that the pharmaceutical industry is spending more to promote medications,” Lund, an Erie, Pennsylvania urologist and incoming president of the Pennsylvania Medical Society, said. “If it wasn’t working for them, they wouldn’t be pumping more money into that budget area.”

While direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertisements can be traced back to 1981, the debate on advertising directly to patients accelerated within the medical community 10 years ago when the Food and Drug Administration changed policy to allow television advertisements directed towards patients.

“I don’t know a physician who hasn’t been asked by at least one patient about a specific drug they saw advertised,” Lund said.

Viagra ads

Some drug ads are more controversial than others. Earlier this year, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) filed a lawsuit against Pfizer Inc., the world's largest pharmaceutical company and manufacturer of impotence drug Viagra, over its marketing tactics and advertising.

AHF claims that Pfizer's Viagra advertising "has caused an increase in the spread of sexually transmitted diseases including but not limited to HIV/AIDS."

"Pfizer has engaged in and continues to engage in this conduct despite clear evidence of its illegality and harmful effects," the foundation charged. The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.

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